Better late than never: Protests against installation of Mexican president

A preliminary investigation by Mexico City’s human rights commission has found evidence of police brutality and arbitrary detentions during the violent protests during last Saturday’s [Dec. 1] inauguration of President Enrique Peña Nieto.

The ongoing investigation has identified at least four cases of possible torture, three of them involving electric shocks, as well as 22 cases of unjustified arrests among the 70 people still in jail in relation to the protests. Many of these face a preliminary charge of “attacks against the public peace”, which carries a long prison term.

Rich Grabner of Mexfiles has some comment on whether the violence was instigated by radicals within the movement or by provocateurs. He links to a report in SDPNoticias in which it is alleged that people were paid to cause trouble. They sure didn’t get paid a lot to get their heads broken.

El Universal is hyping damages which amount to spraypainting sculptures. Yes, it may have cost 240 million pesos to restore the Hemiciclo a Juarez and the Alameda, but they weren’t exactly reduced to rubble.